An Arab viewpoint

VIEW OF THE ARAB WORLD

By Haim Harari, Chair Davidson Institute of Science Education and himself an Arab

"A View from the Eye of the Storm" -- Haim Harari, Chair, Davidson Institute of Science Education, delivered the talk at a
meeting of the International Advisory Board of a large multi-national corporation, April, 2004:

"As you know, I usually provide the scientific and technological entertainment" in our meetings, but, on this occasion, our Chairman suggested that I present my own personal view on events in the part of the world from which I come.

I have never been and I will never be a Government official and I have no privileged information. My perspective is entirely based on what I see, on what I read and on the fact that my family has lived in this region for almost 200 years. You may regard my views as those of the proverbial taxi driver, which you are supposed to question, when you visit a country.

I could have shared with you some fascinating facts and some personal thoughts about the Israeli-Arab conflict. However, I will touch upon it only in passing. I prefer to devote most of my remarks to the broader picture of the region and its place in world events. I refer to the entire area between Pakistan and Morocco, which is predominantly Arab, predominantly Moslem, but includes many non-Arab and also significant non-Moslem minorities.

Why do I put aside Israel and its own immediate neighborhood? Because Israel and any problems related to it, in spite of what you might read or hear in the world media, is not the central issue, and has never been the central issue in the upheaval in the region.

Yes, there is a 100 year-old Israeli-Arab conflict, but it is not where the main show is. The millions who died in the Iran-Iraq war had nothing to do with Israel. The mass murder happening right now in Sudan, where the Arab Moslem regime is massacring its black Christian citizens, has nothing to do with Israel. The frequent reports from Algeria about the murders of hundreds of civilians in one village or another by other Algerians have nothing to do with Israel. Saddam Hussein did not invade Kuwait, endanger Saudi Arabia and butcher his own people because of Israel. Egypt did not use poison gas against Yemen in the 60's because of Israel. Assad the Father did not kill tens of thousands of his own citizens in one week in El Hamma in Syria because of Israel. The Taliban control of Afghanistan and the civil war there had nothing to do with Israel. The Libyan blowing up of the Pan-Am flight had nothing to do with Israel, and I could go on and on and on. But enough on Israel. It's a red herring to the root causes I wish to discuss.

The root of the trouble is that this entire Moslem region is totally dysfunctional, by any standard of the word, and would have been so even if Israel had joined the Arab league and an independent Palestine had existed for 100 years.

The 22 member countries of the Arab league, from Mauritania to the Gulf States, have a total population of 300 million, larger than the US and almost as large as the EU before its expansion. They have a land area larger than either the US or all of Europe. These 22 countries, with all their oil and natural resources, have a combined GDP smaller than that of Netherlands plus Belgium and equal to half of the GDP of California alone. Within this meager GDP, the gaps between rich and poor are beyond belief and too many of the rich made their money not by succeeding in business, but by being corrupt rulers.

The social status of women is far below what it was in the Western World 150 years ago. Human rights are below any reasonable standard, in spite of the grotesque fact that Libya was elected Chair of the UN Human Rights commission.

According to a report prepared by a committee of Arab intellectuals and published under the auspices of the U.N., the number of books translated by the entire Arab world is much smaller than what little Greece alone translates.

Birth rates in the region are very high, increasing the poverty, the social gaps and the cultural decline. And all of this is happening in a region, which only 30 years ago, was believed to be the next wealthy part of the world, and in a Moslem area, which developed, at some point in history, one of the most advanced cultures in the world.

It is fair to say that this creates an unprecedented breeding ground for cruel dictators, terror networks, fanaticism, incitement, suicide murders and general decline. It is also a fact that almost everybody in the region blames this situation on the United States, on Israel, on Western Civilization, on Judaism and Christianity, on anyone and anything, except themselves.

A word about the millions of decent, honest, good people who are either devout Moslems or are not very religious but grew up in Moslem families:

They are double victims of an outside world, which now has Islamophobia, and of their own environment, which breaks their heart by being totally dysfunctional. The problem is that the vast silent majority of these Moslems are not part of the terror and of the incitement, but they also do not stand up against it. They become accomplices, by omission, and this applies to political leaders, intellectuals, business people and many others. Many of them can certainly tell right from wrong, but are afraid to express their views.

The events of the last few years have amplified four issues, which have always existed, but have never been as rampant as in the present upheaval in the region. A few more years may pass before everybody acknowledges that it is a World War, but we are already well into it.

These are the four main pillars of the current World Conflict, or perhaps we should already refer to it as "the undeclared World War III":

1. The first element is the suicide murder.

Suicide murders are not a new invention but they have been made popular, if I may use this expression, only lately. Even after September 11, it seems that most of the Western World does not yet understand this weapon. It is a very potent psychological weapon. Its real direct impact is relatively minor. The total number of casualties from hundreds of suicide murders within Israel in the last three years is much smaller than those due to car accidents. September 11 was quantitatively much less lethal than many earthquakes. More people die from AIDS in one day in Africa than all the Russians who died in the hands of Chechnya-based Moslem suicide murderers since that conflict started. Saddam killed every month more people than all those who died from suicide murders since the Coalition occupation of Iraq.

So what is all the fuss about suicide killings?

It creates headlines. It is spectacular. It is frightening. It is a very cruel death with bodies dismembered and horrible severe lifelong injuries to many of the wounded. It is always shown on television in great detail. One such murder, with the help of hysterical media coverage, can destroy the tourism industry of a country for quite a while, as it did in Bali and in Turkey. But the real fear comes from the undisputed fact that no defense and no preventive measures can succeed against a determined suicide murderer. This has not yet penetrated the thinking of the Western World. The U.S. and Europe are constantly improving their defense against the last murder, not the next one. We may arrange for the best airport security in the world. But if you want to murder by suicide, you do not have to board a plane in order to explode yourself and kill many people. Who could stop a suicide murder in the midst of the crowded line waiting to be checked by the airport metal detector? How about the lines to the check-in counters in a busy travel period? Put a metal detector in front of every train station in Spain and the terrorists will get the buses. Protect the buses and they will explode in movie theaters, concert halls, supermarkets, shopping malls, schools and hospitals. Put guards in front of every concert hall and there will always be a line of people to be checked by the guards and this line will be the target, not to speak of killing the guards themselves. You can somewhat reduce your vulnerability by preventive and defensive measures and by strict border controls but not eliminate it and definitely not win the war in a defensive way. And it is a war!

What is behind the suicide murders?

Money, power and cold-blooded murderous incitement, nothing else. It has nothing to do with true fanatic religious beliefs. No Moslem preacher has ever blown himself up. No son of an Arab politician or religious leader has ever blown himself.

No relative of anyone influential has done it. Wouldn't you expect some of the religious leaders to do it themselves, or to talk their sons into doing it, if this is truly a supreme act of religious fervor? Aren't they interested in the benefits of going to Heaven? Instead, they send outcast women, naive children, retarded people and young incited hotheads. They promise them the delights, mostly sexual, of the next world, and pay their families handsomely after the supreme act is performed and enough innocent people are dead.

Suicide murders also have nothing to do with poverty and despair. The poorest region in the world, by far, is Africa. It never happens there. There are numerous desperate people in the world, in different cultures, countries and continents. Desperation does not provide anyone with explosives, reconnaissance and transportation. There was certainly more despair in Saddam's Iraq then in Paul Bremmer's Iraq, and no one exploded himself. A suicide murder is simply a horrible, vicious weapon of cruel, inhuman, cynical, well-funded terrorists, with no regard to human life, including the life of their fellow countrymen, but with very high regard to their own affluent well-being and their hunger for power.

The only way to fight this new "popular" weapon is identical to the only way in which you fight organized crime or pirates on the high seas: the offensive way.

Like in the case of organized crime, it is crucial that the forces on the offensive be united and it is crucial to reach the top of the crime pyramid. You cannot eliminate organized crime by arresting the little drug dealer in the street corner. You must go after the head of the "Family." If part of the public supports it, others tolerate it, many are afraid of it and some try to explain it away by poverty or by a miserable childhood, organized crime will thrive and so will terrorism.

The United States understands this now, after September 11. Russia is beginning to understand it. Turkey understands it well. I am very much afraid that most of Europe still does not understand it. Unfortunately, it seems that Europe will understand it only after suicide murders arrive in Europe in a big way. In my humble opinion, this will definitely happen. The Spanish trains and the Istanbul bombings are only the beginning. The unity of the Civilized World in fighting this horror is absolutely indispensable. Until Europe wakes up, this unity will not be achieved.

2. The second ingredient is words, more precisely lies.

Words can be lethal. They kill people. It is often said that politicians, diplomats and perhaps also lawyers and business people must sometimes lie, as part of their professional life. But the norms of politics and diplomacy are childish, in comparison with the level of incitement and total absolute deliberate fabrications, which have reached new heights in the region we are talking about. An incredible number of people in the Arab world believe that September 11 never happened, or was an American provocation or, even better, a Jewish plot.

You all remember the Iraqi Minister of Information, Mr. Mouhamad Said al-Sahaf and his press conferences when the US forces were already inside Baghdad. Disinformation at time of war is an accepted tactic.

But to stand, day after day, and to make such preposterous statements, known to everybody to be lies, without even being ridiculed in your own milieu can only happen in this region. Mr. Sahaf eventually became a popular icon as a court jester, but this did not stop some allegedly respectable newspapers from giving him equal time. It also does not prevent the Western press from giving credence, every day, even now, to similar liars.

After all, if you want to be an anti-Semite, there are subtle ways of doing it. You do not have to claim that the holocaust never happened, and that the Jewish temple in Jerusalem never existed. But millions of Moslems are told by their leaders that this is the case. When these same leaders make other statements, the Western media report them as if they could be true.

It is a daily occurrence that the same people, who finance, arm and dispatch suicide murderers, condemn the act in English in front of western TV cameras, talking to a world audience, which even partly believes them. It is a daily routine to hear the same leader making opposite statements in Arabic to his people and in English to the rest of the world. Incitement by Arab TV, accompanied by horror pictures of mutilated bodies, has become a powerful weapon of those who lie, distort and want to destroy everything.

Little children are raised on deep hatred and on admiration of so-called martyrs, and the Western World does not notice it because its own TV sets are mostly tuned to soap operas and game shows. I recommend to you, even though most of you do not understand Arabic, to watch Al Jazeera, from time to time. You will not believe your own eyes.

But words also work in other ways, more subtle. A demonstration in Berlin, carrying banners supporting Saddam's regime and featuring three-year old babies dressed as suicide murderers, is defined by the press and by political leaders as a "peace demonstration". You may support or oppose the Iraq war, but to refer to fans of Saddam, Arafat or Bin Laden as peace activists is a bit much. A woman walks into an Israeli restaurant in mid-day, eats, observes families with old people and children eating their lunch in the adjacent tables and pays the bill. She then blows herself up, killing 20 people, including many children, with heads and arms rolling around in the restaurant. She is called "martyr" by several Arab leaders and "activist" by the European press. Dignitaries condemn the act but visit her bereaved family and the money flows.

There is a new game in town: The actual murderer is called "the military wing", the one who pays him, equips him and sends him is now called "the political wing" and the head of the operation is called the "spiritual leader". There are numerous other examples of such Orwellian nomenclature, used every day not only by terror chiefs but also by Western media. These words are much more dangerous than many people realize. They provide an emotional infrastructure for atrocities. It was Joseph Goebels who said that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. He is now being outperformed by his successors.

3. The third aspect is money.

Huge amounts of money, which could have solved many social problems in this dysfunctional part of the world, are channeled into three concentric spheres supporting death and murder.

In the inner circle are the terrorists themselves. The money funds their travel, explosives, hideouts and permanent search for soft vulnerable targets. The inner circles are primarily financed by terrorist states like Iran and Syria, until recently also by Iraq and Libya and earlier also by some of the Communist regimes. These states, as well as the Palestinian Authority, are the safe havens of the wholesale murder vendors.

They are surrounded by a second wider circle of direct supporters, planners, commanders, preachers, all of whom make a living, usually a very comfortable living, by serving as terror infrastructure.

Finally, we find the third circle of so-called religious, educational and welfare organizations, which actually do some good, feed the hungry and provide some schooling, but brainwash a new generation with hatred, lies and ignorance. This circle operates mostly through mosques, madrasas and other religious establishments but also through inciting electronic and printed media. It is this circle that makes sure that women remain inferior, that democracy is unthinkable and that exposure to the outside world is minimal. It is also that circle that leads the way in blaming everybody outside the Moslem world for the miseries of the region. The outer circle is largely financed by Saudi Arabia, but also by donations from certain Moslem communities in the United States and Europe and, to a smaller extent, by donations of European Governments to various NGOs and by certain United Nations organizations, whose goals may be noble, but they are infested and exploited by agents of the outer circle. The Saudi regime, of course, will be the next victim of major terror, when the inner circle will explode into the outer circle. The Saudis are beginning to understand it, but they fight the inner circles, while still financing the infrastructure at the outer circle.

Figuratively speaking, this outer circle is the guardian, which makes sure that the people look and listen inwards to the inner circle of terror and incitement, rather than to the world outside. Some parts of this same outer circle actually operate as a result of fear from, or blackmail by, the inner circles. The horrifying added factor is the high birth rate. Half of the population of the Arab world is under the age of 20, the most receptive age to incitement, guaranteeing two more generations of blind hatred.

Some of the leaders of these various circles live very comfortably on their loot. You meet their children in the best private schools in Europe, not in the training camps of suicide murderers. The Jihad "soldiers" join packaged death tours to Iraq and other hotspots, while some of their leaders ski in Switzerland. Mrs. Arafat, who lives in Paris with her daughter, receives tens of thousands of dollars per month from the allegedly bankrupt Palestinian Authority, while a typical local ringleader of the Al-Aksa brigade, reporting to Arafat, receives only a cash payment of a couple of hundred dollars, for performing murders at the retail level.

4. The fourth element of the current world conflict is the total breaking of all laws.

The civilized world believes in democracy, the rule of law, including international law, human rights, free speech and free press, among other liberties. There are naive old-fashioned habits such as respecting religious sites and symbols, not using ambulances and hospitals for acts of war, avoiding the mutilation of dead bodies and not using children as human shields or human bombs. Never in history, not even in the Nazi period, was there such total disregard of all of the above as we observe now. Every student of political science debates how you prevent an anti-democratic force from winning a democratic election and abolishing democracy.

Other aspects of a civilized society must also have limitations. Can a policeman open fire on someone trying to kill him? Can a government listen to phone conversations of terrorists and drug, dealers? Does free speech protect you when you shout "fire" in a crowded theater? Should there be death penalty, for deliberate multiple murders? These are the old-fashioned dilemmas. But now we have an entire new set. Do you raid a mosque, which serves as a terrorist ammunition storage? Do you return fire, if you are attacked from a hospital? Do you storm a church taken over by terrorists who took the priests hostages? Do you search every ambulance after a few suicide murderers use ambulances to reach their targets? Do you strip every woman because one pretended to be pregnant and carried a suicide bomb on her belly? Do you shoot back at someone trying to kill you, standing deliberately behind a group of children? Do you raid terrorist headquarters, hidden in a mental hospital?

Do you shoot an arch-murderer who deliberately moves from one location to another, always surrounded by children? All of these happen daily in Iraq and in the Palestinian areas. What do you do? Well, you do not want to face the dilemma. But it cannot be avoided. Suppose, for the sake of discussion, that someone would openly stay in a well-known address in Teheran, hosted by the Iranian Government and financed by it, executing one atrocity after another in Spain or in France, killing hundreds of innocent people, accepting responsibility for the crimes, promising in public TV interviews to do more of the same, while the Government of Iran issues public condemnations of his acts but continues to host him, invite him to official functions and treat him as a great dignitary. I leave it to you as homework to figure out what Spain or France would have done, in such a situation.

The problem is that the civilized world is still having illusions about the rule of law in a totally lawless environment. It is trying to play ice hockey by sending a ballerina ice-skater into the rink or to knock out a heavyweight boxer by a chess player. In the same way that no country has a law against cannibals eating its prime minister, because such an act is unthinkable, international law does not address killers shooting from hospitals, mosques and ambulances, while being protected by their Government or society. International law does not know how to handle someone who sends children to throw stones, stands behind them and shoots with immunity and cannot be arrested because he is sheltered by a Government. International law does not know how to deal with a leader of murderers who is royally and comfortably hosted by a country, which pretends to condemn his acts or just claims to be too weak to arrest him.

The amazing thing is that all of these crooks demand protection under international law, and define all those who attack them as "war criminals," with some Western media repeating the allegations.

The good news is that all of this is temporary, because the evolution of international law has always adapted itself to reality. The punishment for suicide murder should be death or arrest before the murder, not during and not after. After every world war, the rules of international law have changed, and the same will happen after the present one. But during the twilight zone, a lot of harm can be done.

The picture I described here is not pretty. What can we do about it? In the short run, only fight and win. In the long run - only educate the next generation and open it to the world. The inner circles can and must be destroyed by force.

The outer circle cannot be eliminated by force. Here we need financial starvation of the organizing elite, more power to women, more education, counter propaganda, boycott whenever feasible and access to Western media, internet and the international scene.

Above all, we need a total absolute unity and determination of the civilized world against all three circles of evil. Allow me, for a moment, to depart from my alleged role as a taxi driver and return to science. When you have a malignant tumor, you may remove the tumor itself surgically. You may also starve it by preventing new blood from reaching it from other parts of the body, thereby preventing new "supplies" from expanding the tumor. If you want to be sure, it is best to do both.

But before you fight and win, by force or otherwise, you have to realize that you are in a war, and this may take Europe a few more years. In order to win, it is necessary to first eliminate the terrorist regimes, so that no Government in the world will serve as a safe haven for these people.

I do not want to comment here on whether the American led attack on Iraq was justified from the point of view of weapons of mass destruction or any other pre-war argument, but I can look at the post-war map of Western Asia. Now that Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya are out, two and a half terrorist states remain: Iran, Syria and Lebanon, the latter being a Syrian colony. Perhaps Sudan should be added to the list. As a result of the conquest of Afghanistan and Iraq, both Iran and Syria are now totally surrounded by territories unfriendly to them. Iran is encircled by Afghanistan, by the Gulf States, Iraq and the Moslem republics of the former Soviet Union. Syria is surrounded by Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Israel. This is a significant strategic change and it applies strong pressure on the terrorist countries. It is not surprising that Iran is so active in trying to incite a Shiite uprising in Iraq. I do not know if the American plan was actually to encircle both Iran and Syria, but that is the resulting situation.

In my humble opinion, the number one danger to the world today is Iran and its regime. It definitely has ambitions to rule vast areas and to expand in all directions.

It has an ideology, which claims supremacy over Western culture. It is ruthless. It has proven that it can execute elaborate terrorist acts without leaving too many traces, using Iranian Embassies. It is clearly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Its so-called moderates and conservatives play their own virtuoso version of the "good-cop versus bad-cop" game. Iran sponsors Syrian terrorism, it is certainly behind much of the action in Iraq, it is fully funding the Hezbollah and, through it, the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad, it performed acts of terror at least in Europe and in South America and probably also in Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia and it truly leads a multi-national terror consortium, which includes, as minor players, Syria, Lebanon and certain Shiite elements in Iraq. Nevertheless, most European countries still trade with Iran, try to appease it and refuse to read the clear signals.

In order to win the war it is also necessary to dry up the financial resources of the terror conglomerate. It is pointless to try to understand the subtle differences between the Sunni terror of Al Qaeda and Hamas and the Shiite terror of Hezbollah, Sadr and other Iranian-inspired enterprises. When it serves their business needs, all of them collaborate beautifully.

It is crucial to stop Saudi and other financial support of the outer circle, which is the fertile breeding ground of terror. It is important to monitor all donations from the Western World to Islamic organizations, to monitor the finances of international relief organizations and to react with forceful economic measures to any small sign of financial aid to any of the three circles of terrorism.

It is also important to act decisively against the campaign of lies and fabrications and to monitor those Western media who collaborate with it out of naivety, financial interests or ignorance.

Above all, never surrender to terror. No one will ever know whether the recent elections in Spain would have yielded a different result, if not for the train bombings a few days earlier. But it really does not matter. What matters is that the terrorists believe that they caused the result and that they won by driving Spain out of Iraq. The Spanish story will surely end up being extremely costly to other European countries, including France, who is now expelling inciting preachers and forbidding veils and including others who sent troops to Iraq. In the long run, Spain itself will pay even more.

Is the solution a democratic Arab world?

If by democracy we mean free elections but also free press, free speech, a functioning judicial system, civil liberties, equality to women, free international travel, exposure to international media and ideas, laws against racial incitement and against defamation, and avoidance of lawless behavior regarding hospitals, places of worship and children, then yes, democracy is the solution.

If democracy is just free elections, it is likely that the most fanatic regime will be elected, the one whose incitement and fabrications are the most inflammatory. We have seen it already in Algeria and, to a certain extent, in Turkey. It will happen again, if the ground is not prepared very carefully. On the other hand, a certain transition democracy, as in Jordan, may be a better temporary solution, paving the way for the real thing, perhaps in the same way that an immediate sudden democracy did not work in Russia and would not have worked in China.

I have no doubt that the civilized world will prevail. But the longer it takes us to understand the new landscape of this war, the more costly and painful the victory will be. Europe, more than any other region, is the key. Its understandable recoil from wars, following the horrors of World War II, may cost thousands of additional innocent lives, before the tide will turn." #

compare

We have the world on our hands...
In the Interest of fairest.........................
Another view point.




For the record. Compare the Jews to Muslims and decide which is the more productive. Blm


The Global Islamic population is approximately 1,200,000,000, or 20% of the world population.

They have received the following Nobel Prizes:

Literature:
1988 - Najib Mahfooz.

Peace:
1978 - Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat
1994 - Yaser Arafat

Physics:
1990 - Elias James Corey
1999 - Ahmed Zewail

Medicine:
1960 - Peter Brian Medawar
1998 - Ferid Mourad

The Global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000, or about 0.02% of the world population. They have received the following Nobel Prizes:


Literature:
1910 - Paul Heyse
1927 - Henri Bergson
1958 - Boris Pasternak
1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon
1966 - Nelly Sachs
1976 - Saul Bellow
1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer
1981 - Elias Canetti
1987 - Joseph Brodsky
1991 - Nadine Gordimer World


Peace:
1911 - Alfred Fried
1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser
1968 - Rene Cassin
1973 - Henry Kissinger
1978 - Menachem Begin
1986 - Elie Wiesel
1994 - Shimon Peres
1994 - Yitzhak Rabin


Physics:
1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer
1906 - Henri Moissan
1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson
1908 - Gabriel Lippmann
1910 - Otto Wallach
1915 - Richard Willstaetter
1918 - Fritz Haber
1921 - Albert Einstein
1922 - Niels Bohr
1925 - James Franck
1925 - Gustav Hertz
1943 - Gustav Stern
1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi
1952 - Felix Bloch
1954 - Max Born
1958 - Igor Tamm
1959 - Emilio Segre
1960 - Donald A. Glaser
1961 - Robert Hofstadter
1961 - Melvin Calvin
1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz
1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman
1965 - Julian Schwinger
1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
1971 - Dennis Gabor
1972 - William Howard Stein
1973 - Brian David Josephson
1975 - Benjamin Mottleson
1976 - Burton Richter
1977 - Ilya Prigogine
1978 - Arno Allan Penzias
1978 - Peter L Kapitza
1979 - Stephen Weinberg
1979 - Sheldon Glashow
1979 - Herbert Charle S Brown
1980 - Paul Berg
1980 - Walter Gilbert
1981 - Roald Hoffmann
1982 - Aaron Klug
1985 - Albert A. Hauptman
1985 - Jerome Karle
1986 - Dudley R. Herschbach
1988 - Robert Huber
1988 - Leon Lederman
1988 - Melvin Schwartz
1988 - Jack Steinberger
1989 - Sidney Altman
1990 - Jerome Friedman
1992 - Rudolph Marcus
1995 - Martin Perl
2000 - Alan J. Heeger


Economics:
1970 - Paul Anthony Samuelson
1971 - Simon Kuznets
1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow
1975 - Leonid Kantorovich
1976 - Milton Friedman
1978 - Herbert A. Simon
1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein
1985 - Franco Modigliani
1987 - Robert M. Solow
1990 - Harry Markowitz
1990 - Merton Miller
1992 - Gary Becker
1993 - Robert Fogel


Medicine:
1908 - Elie Metchnikoff
1908 - Paul Erlich
1914 - Robert Barany
1922 - Otto Meyerhof
1930 - Karl Landsteiner
1931 - Otto Warburg
1936 - Otto Loewi
1944 - Joseph Erlanger
1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser
1945 - Ernst Boris Chain
1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
1950 - Tadeus Reichstein
1952 - Selman Abra ham Waksman
1953 - Hans Krebs
1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann
1958 - Joshua Lederberg
1959 - Arthur Kornberg
1964 - Konrad Bloch
1965 - Francois Jacob
1965 - Andre Lwoff
1967 - George Wald
1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg
1969 - Salvador Luria
1970 - Julius Axelrod
1970 - Sir Bernard Katz
1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman
1975 - Howard Martin Temin
1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg
1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow
1978 - Daniel Nathans
1980 - Baruj Benacerraf
1984 - Cesar Milstein
1985 - Michael Stuart Brown
1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein
1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini]
1988 - Gertrude Elion
1989 - Harold Varmus
1991 - Erwin Neher
1991 - Bert Sakmann
1993 - Richard J. Roberts
1993 - Phillip Sharp
1994 - Alfred Gilman
1995 - Edward B. Lewis


The Jews are not demonstrating with their dead on the streets, yelling and chanting and asking for revenge; the Jews are not promoting brain washing the children in military training camps, teaching them how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other non-Muslims.


The Jews don't hijack planes, nor kill athletes at the Olympics; the Jews don't traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad and death to all the Infidels.

The Jews don't have the economic strength of petroleum, nor the possibilities to force the world's media to see "their side" of the question.

Perhaps the world's Muslims should consider investing more in standard education and less in blaming the Jews for all their problems.

Who is hearing?

Who is hearing?
Your physical being doesn’t hear,
Nor does the void.
Then what does?
Strive to find out.
Put aside your rational Intellect,
Give up all techniques.
Just get rid of the notion of self.

Bassui

I am a Point of Light

AFFIRMATION OF A DISCIPLE

I am a point of light within a greater light.
I am a strand of living energy within the stream of Love divine.
I am a point of sacrificial fire, focused within the fiery Will of God.
And Thus I stand.

I am a way by which men may achieve.
I am a source of strength, enabling them to stand.
I am a beam of light, shining upon their way.
And thus I stand.

And standing thus revolve
And tread this way, the ways of men,
And know the ways of God.
And Thus I stand.

Give away

Is there really the desire to know love, or to know the experience of someone having an emotion over self? Is it a desire to be itself expended in doing that which may be helpful or constructive? This can be done, but it will require the losing of self, as has been indicated, in service for others.
. . . But arise to that consciousness that if ye would have life, if ye would have friends, if ye would have love, these things ye must expend. For only that ye give away do ye possess.

Edgar Cayce Reading 1786-2

Remember the Sunset

Then, to be able to remember the sunset, to be able to remember a beautiful conversation, a beautiful deed done where hope and faith were created, to remember the smile of a babe, the blush of a rose, the harmony of a song--a bird's call; these are creative. For if they are a part of thyself, they bring you closer and closer to God.

Regret

"Regret for the things we did can
be tempered by time," he says, "It is regret for the things we did
not do that is inconsolable."
sydney harris

Blue Sphear
All rights reserved 2005 made by muddnet with Tierazon1

All Healing

Think on This ...
For all healing, mental or material, is attuning each atom of the body, each reflex of the brain forces, to the awareness of the divine that lies within each atom, each cell of the body.

perfect love

For perfect love casteth out fear, and fear can only be from the material things that soon must fade away.
And thus hold to the higher thought of eternity. For life is a continual experience.

Edgar Cayce Reading 1175-1

Be My People

. . for he that seeks the Lord must believe that He is, would they find Him; for one doubting has already builded that barrier that prevents the proper understanding, whether as to physical, mental or spiritual attributes, or spiritual aid, or mental aid, or physical aid; for that in faith sought for shall be thine, even as was given, "Be my people and I will be your God."

Edgar Cayce Reading 459-1

Mind is the builder

For mind is the builder and that which we think upon may become crimes or miracles. For thoughts are things and as their currents run through the environs of an entity's experience these become barriers or steppingstones, dependent upon the manner in which these are laid as it were. For as the mental dwells upon these thoughts, so does it give strength, power to things that do not appear. And thus does indeed there become that as is so oft given, that faith is the evidence of things not seen.

Edgar Cayce Reading 906-3

In "his" name

For as the heaven is His throne, the earth is His footstool, so may we at His feet learn, know, become aware of, the knowledge of His ways. For He is not past finding out. For is God, the Father, so far away that He answers our pleas, our prayers, as from afar? Rather is His presence felt when we become aware of His force, His power, His love; the knowledge of His presence in our lives, our experiences, our undertakings in His name.

Edgar Cayce Reading 262-95

Do Not Condemn Another

Know that only in Him, who may bring peace and harmony by or through the contacts--the thoughts of self as in relationship to the whole, may there be brought about those better relationships.
To continue to condemn only brings condemnation, then, for self. This does not mean that self's activity should be passive, but rather being constant in prayer--knowing and taking, knowing and understanding that he that is faithful is not given a burden beyond that he is able to bear, if he will put the burden upon Him that has given the promise, "I will be with thee; there shall not come that which shall harm thee, if thou will but put thy trust, thy faith in me."
. . . First make an analysis of self, of self's relationships, of the impelling influences that cause others to act in their manners in the present.
Do not condemn self, do not condemn another; but leave the activities that would bring about condemnation rather in His hands, who requireth at the hands of all that there be meted, "As ye would that should be done to thee, do ye even so to thy fellow man!"

Edgar Cayce Reading 290-1

the ego

Chuan Zhi Shakya
Undeniable Self, Deniable self
by Chuan Zhi Shakya, OHY
Presented October 4, 2005

"Daruma" by Kogaku Soen (1859-1917). Kogaku Soen was one of the first monks to bring Zen to the United States. He is well known for his brush paintings of Boddhidharma (known in Japan as Daruma).
"Self is the lord of self; what higher Lord could there be? When a man subdues well his self, he gains a mastery which is hard to obtain."

-- The Buddha
(Dhammapada, XII.4)

Those seeking to understand Chan often misunderstand the nature of ego transcendence, which is, itself, the Chan experience. While it's impossible to understand it from a purely intellectual vantage, a glimpse into its nature is possible, and with the right Chan practice, anyone can come to fully realize it.

To distinguish between the concept of ego-self and Buddha Self (the True Self - or ego-transcended Self), I will use the conventional lower case "s" when referring to the ego-self, and a capital "S" when referring to Buddha Self.

What is the nature of Self? In Chan, the answer is a spiritual one, dependent on self-reflection, and one that cannot come fully until we achieve a degree of spiritual awareness. In the secular domain, we can investigate Self in terms of what it is not - it is not the self we identify as our ego.

We all recognize the characteristics of ego - they manifest as arrogance, pride and conceit. While it's easy to see these characteristics in others, it's often difficult to see them within ourselves: when we look inward it's too painful to confront so we turn the other way and return to our usual ways of thinking, feeling and behaving. This is the immense power the ego has over us. The danger of succumbing to it is obvious: we, too, act in the way of an ego-dominated individual, convinced that our opinions are the right ones, that our experiences are more valid than another's, that our knowledge is more "correct." Turning away from self-reflection we become like those we admonish.

When we lose the ability, or courage, to self-reflect, our ego steps in for us; and the more we entrust to our ego, the stronger it becomes and the more distant we become from our Self. The result is all varieties of ego-centered convictions and behaviors, but most grievous is the loss of knowledge of who we are as human beings. And therein lies all the pain and suffering that comes when a spiritual life is neglected. Recognizing the ego for what it is, we can begin to let go of it.

The ego is first and foremost concerned about itself - it wants to be strong and dominant, and will manipulate us accordingly by engaging in deception to bend our Will to identify with it. When we identify ourselves with our thoughts and actions and beliefs (all ego-elements), in our minds we become that with which we identify. We are "a republican" or "a democrat" or a "religious person" or "a vegetarian" or "a nice person" or a "victimized person" or a "strong person" or a "spiritual person" or a "smart person" or a "sensitive person" …. We become the center of our known universe. And a very small universe it is. What we fail to recognize is how limiting this state of being really is.

The ego will present numerous roadblocks on our spiritual journey. The Buddha warned about this in the numerous stories he told (the Jataka tales are often attributed to him but may have much more ancient origins) and in his sayings, collectively referred to as the Dhammapada.

The challenge for the spiritual traveler is to detach from the notion that we are what we think we are. In reality, we are everything except what we think we are, and if we take this viewpoint we can begin to undermine our attachment to ego and its influence over us and begin to learn about the nature of our Real Self. Depending on the amount of effort we put into it, ego-transcendence will come fast or slow, but once it does, we will truly be followers of the Chan path.

Deny yourself your opinions. Deny yourself your beliefs. Neti! Neti! Not this! Not This! Negate all those things that you have formed attachments to, one-at-a-time. Do this during every waking moment, unrelentingly, and enlightenment will come quickly. The Buddha Self -- which is you -- will pierce the veils of that slippery autonomous phantasm we call ego.

ok so my fractal hearts were a day late..At least there not cartoons of mohummed
All rights reserved 2005 made by muddnet with Tierazon1

Nothing to gain

Poems by Than Nguyen

Nothing there to gain.
Nothing there to lose.
No center nor vastness.
Accepting existence and non existence
Is the same as harmonizing within and without;
The same as rejecting no evilness and no goodness.
Leaving behind the terminology, one enters the true-self.
Where is the universe?
What is there to say?

Leave it be

The past is already past.
Don’t try to regain it.
The present does not stay.
Don’t try to touch it.

From moment to moment.
The future has not come;
Don’t think about it
Beforehand.

Whatever comes to the eye,
Leave it be.
There are no commandments
To be kept;
There’s no filth to be cleansed.

With empty mind really
Penetrated, the dharmas
Have no life.

When you can be like this,
You’ve completed
The ultimate attainment.
Layman P’ang (740-808)

He that expects nothing wont be disapointed

. . "I will not leave thee comfortless, but will come and enjoin thee in thy daily activities, thy daily service." This is the promise to every soul. If ye would make that promise thine own, then seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto thee. Let there be definite periods when ye look within self, cleansing the mind, the body, in such ways and manners and measures that seemeth that as ye would offer as thine offering unto the holy experiences that may be thine. For, he that expects nothing shall not be disappointed, but he that expects much--if he lives and uses that in hand day by day--shall be full to running over. For the love of the Father constraineth thee to keep thine counsel with those thou meetest day by day that thou mayest aid. Thus may the soul find expression. Thus may the life, the experience, that portion of life thou hast in this present experience become more and more beautiful, and the sunshine of thy love into the hearts and souls of those that are wondering, that are troubled because they find not the spirit of truth and life in their own lives, wilt come into those experiences of calling thee blessed in the name of the Father.

Edgar Cayce Reading 557-3

If a Soul Fails to Improve

Q) If a soul fails to improve itself, what becomes of it?
(A) That's why the reincarnation, why it reincarnates; that it may have the opportunity. Can the will of man continue to defy its Maker?

Edgar Cayce Reading 826-8

tshirthell.com letters

2006 is not off to a good start. Almost a million people were gathered
in
Times Square with a clean shot at Regis Philbin, and not one of them
had the
guts to take him out.


[Happy New Shirts 2006!]

We've decided to kick off the New Year with a slew of new shirts.
Celebrate
a Happy Fucking New Year with all sorts of fucking new shirts about
fucking.
We have shirts about orgies, dog fucking, and sucking yourself. Plus,
dirty
Jews, clean Brits,dead wives, free juicers, and all of your black
friends.

All of our new shirts are here:

http://www.tshirthell.com/miscpages/newshirt572.htm

If you're an AOL user, or unable to click the link above, copy and
paste it
into your browser.


[It's Not Easy Being Green, and That's Good]

With America losing The War on Drugs, Terror and even Christmas, it's
nice
to see we're winning The War on something: our environment.

Global warming is increasing, the oil reserves are drying up, and we
lose
another endangered species every five minutes. I could not be happier.
Destroying the environment is good.

Let me put it another way. Let's say Jessica Alba's ass is the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge. Sure it looks perfect and pristine. But
honestly, how much better would it look if someone was tapping it, am I
right?

Global warming may lead to extreme weather. But extreme weather leads
to
extremely entertaining video. I never get tired of watching some shaky
amateur footage and hearing someone say, "Gee, maybe we should have
evacuated."just before they scream and the screen goes black. Plus,
in
spite of the cheesy disaster anthems, we often get a couple excellent
disaster relief concerts.

It's good to use up all of the oil now instead of leaving it for future
generations. You know they would squander it. Why should we deprive
ourselves of topless hot oil wrestling just so some future generation
can
fuel their jetpack to go to school? Let's find a new energy source
buried
in Arkansas, or some pushover country like Denmark.

Killing endangered species might seem wrong. But unless we kill them,
we're
never going to know if their blood contains the cure for cancer, or if
their
guts can make a better tennis racket, or if their liver tastes like a
bit of
heaven; smeared on a cracker with a dollop of creme fraiche.

Destroying the environment is progress. Anyone who disagrees better be
living naked in a cave. And I don't know what they're living on,
because
last time I checked you needed to kill something if you wanted to eat.
The
government scientists are never going to get off their asses and build
really cool dome houses on Mars, unless we completely devastate and use
up everything here on Earth.

So, climb into your SUV, light up your cigar, and drive down the street
to
pick up your teak end tables. And if on your way you see a rare grey
squirrel crossing the road, steer into him. Do your part.


[Let's Make 2006 the Hatiest Year Ever!]

----- Original Message -----

From: Fermidha
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 5:00 AM
Subject: RE:The Koran

Dear Sir/Madam,

Why are the American people on the whole determined to destroy and put
down
the religion of Islam.
Could it be that this beautiful religion makes you nervous?
Could it be that this beautiful religion has all the answers where
yours
could not give you a straight and true answer even if all your
religious
leaders tried?
You would not see a Muslim degrading the Christian religion and do you
know
why? Because we respect other religions and your prophets are our
prophets.

This is just to tell you please think carefully before you insult our
religion, because in doing that you are also insulting your prophets
who are
also part of our religion.

GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS

Regards,
Fermidha

(Editor's Note: You refer to me as sir/madam because you didn't know
who'd
be receiving this. I'm going to refer to you as sir/madam because your
name
is Fermidha, which sounds like some overly spiced food dish that will
leave
me howling on the toilet all night and yet provides no clue as to your
gender. So, to answer your question sir/madam, no one is out to destroy
your
religion. We're out to make money by selling shirts that only a
mentally
challenged caveman would think was powerful enough to bring down an
entire
religion. If shirts wielded that kind of magical power I'd be enjoying
a
good fuck in all 3 of my major orifices by solid gold penises, while
watching a panda fight an alligator for my amusement. Currently I can
only
afford 2 solid gold penises. Now go get angry while us regular folks
stay
perfectly calm and laugh. Oh, and try not to fly a plane into our
website.
And if Islam holds all of the answers, ask it where I left the extra
set of
keys to my beach house on Maui.)

Faults in others

Faults in others are first reflected in self. When such conditions arise in the experience of an entity, there should be first those considerations of that in self that has produced such a reflection, so that the God shining through any activity is lost sight of by self in the fellow man; especially one that is seeking for the spiritual activities in a material plane, and he that would gain the world and lose self's own soul has lost all.

Edgar Cayce Reading 452-3

Darth Vader

 
 

Nothing Grows

Nothing grows, nothing remains alone unless dead. A mind, a body that sits alone and considers the outside and never turning that within to the out, nor that without from within, soon finds drosses setting up in the system; for development is change. Change is the activity of knowledge from within. Learn to live! Then there is no death, save the transition, when desired.

Edgar Cayce Reading 900-465

Your inherent mind is buddha

Few people believe their
Inherent mind is Buddha.
Most will not take this seriously,
And therefore are cramped.
They are wrapped up in illusions, cravings,
Resentments, and other afflictions,
All because they love the cave of ignorance.

Fenyang

Enlightenment

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water.
The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.
Although its light is wide and great,
The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.
The whole moon and the entire sky
Are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Dogen

An Experience

An experience, then, is not only a happening, but what is the reaction in your own mind? What does it do to you to make your life, your habits, your relationships to others of a more helpful nature, with a more hopeful attitude?
These are the criterions for every individual's experience--sincerity of purpose, of desire; putting the whole law into effect in the activities--which is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, thy mind, thy body, and thy neighbor as thyself.
This is the whole law. All the other things given or written are only the interpreting of same.
Then what does such a proclaiming preclude? From what basis is the reasoning drawn? What is the purpose of an individual experience of an entity or soul into the earth at any given period?
These answered then give a background for the interpreting of why.

Edgar Cayce Reading 1567-2

Absolute Awareness

Chester challenged the Master concerning Buddha. The Master listened as Chester claimed Buddha seemed to ignore God. "Buddha is known as the enlightened one. But I read that it claims even the gods trembled when Buddha announced he could see past their illusions. Buddha didn't seem to be connected to God."

The Master sipped his tea then began, "Buddha was familiar with the teachings of the Supreme Personality of the Godhead from the teachings of the Hindu priests that attended the court. When Buddha achieved the enlightened state he connected completely to the state of Absolute Awareness which trancends all created realities."

Happy Turkey Eve

I hope your all safe,and full of turkey and stuffing,and yams,and those little sweet gerkins,and olives,green and black,along with rolls,and pumpkin pie.My Uncle Harold used to pile up everything he liked onto my plate..Which was a problem,as he liked everything.Didnt hurt me one bit to try all those foods..Just didnt think it was fun at the time.I wish I could eat one more thanksgiving dinner at grandma and grampas..I'd even give Grandma Donis some sugar!Its been 14 years since I got to have turkey with my family..1200 miles is a long ways.Now they moved even further away to New Mexico.Las Crucis. Maybe they will run into that idiot who wants the crosses removed from the city logo.May the fleas from a thousand camels infest his armpits.

Spread the light

(Q) What is God's plan for me in assisting the furtherance of His kingdom here on this planet, so that I may accomplish the greatest good with whatever talents I may possess?
(A) Brighten the corner where thou art from day to day. Let not a day go by without speaking to someone with the smile of the face and eye reminding them that somebody cares, and it is Jesus!

Edgar Cayce Reading 3357-1

Cleanse Your Mind

For how does one cleanse the mind? By the pouring out, the forgetting, the laying aside of those things that easily beset and filling same with pure, fresh water that is of the eternal life, that is of the eternal goodness as may be found in Him who is the light, the way, the truth, the vine, the bread of life and the water of life. These things are those influences that purify.

Edgar Cayce Reading 1620-1

The Throne of Grace

Think on This ...
There is that access, then, that way, to the Throne of grace, of mercy, of peace, of understanding, within thine own self. For He has promised to meet thee in thine own temple, in thine own body, through thine own mind . . . And then enter into the holy of holies, within thine own consciousness; turn within; see what has prompted thee. And He has promised to meet thee there. And there shall it be told thee from within the steps thou shouldst take day by day, step by step. Not that some great exploit, some great manner of change should come within thine body, thine mind, but line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. For it is, as He has given, not the knowledge alone but the practical application--in thine daily experience with thy fellow man--that counts.

Edgar Cayce Reading 922-1

Ebay item

Item Specifics - Men's Suits & Sportcoats





Jacket Size:
44





Style:
Double Breasted





Waist Size:
36





Material:
Wool





Inseam:
31





Condition:
Used but Clean



































Web Bug from MailScannerWebBug







AUTHENTIC Delta Air Lines Captain Pilot Uniform

This uniform was worn by a dedicated Delta Pilot for many years. Now retired and robbed of part, or all, of promised pension, uniform is now offered for sale to supplement income.

Suit is worn and empty but filled with memories and honor. Suit has been across many miles and many experiences. Suit was once filled with pride and service getting thousands of passengers to their destination safely. Suit has been through rain, snow, ice, and wind without a single tear or scratch. Suit once controlled multi-million dollar assets, flown throughout the world, with billions of dollars of liability to the company. Suit has never cost company one (1) cent in accident or injury.

Although the suit is worn and has been discarded by the company, it can be yours. Suit is clean but used. Coat may be soiled from hydraulic fluid or grease as plane was inspected. Shirt may be soiled from mad dashes through the airport in a rush to the next plane in an effort to get back on schedule. Tie may have stains from fast food meals that were hurriedly eaten while at the controls. Tie comes with you choice of pins, Air Line Pilots Association, Air Force, or Airplane. Pants may show signs of wear from may hours spent strapped into a seat, hip shows some signs of wear from firearm used to protect you and your passengers from harm. Shoes are shiny but worn. Suit comes with choice of Old Delta or New Delta emblems. Many prefer the Old Delta.

Suit is thought by many to have APHRODISIAC qualities, although this cannot be confirmed or denied.

BEWARE putting on this suit can have adverse effects on you life. It can cause you to miss your childrens birth. It can cause you to miss holiday reunions, family times, and weekends. You may miss your Daughters prom and your Sons graduation. Your family may think Christmas is not always on December 25th. Your wife will have to learn to be a single parent when you are gone for days. The suit can cause you to miss entire nights of sleep or get up at 3 AM to meet your next schedule. Your neighbors may be jealous of you and think you do not deserve to wear the uniform or be compensated for your work.

Originally suit required a four year college degree and an internship of 5-10 years in the military, and another 10-15 years for the fourth stripe. Suit comes with a promise of a pension if you provide years of dedication and service. THE PROMISE MAY BE AS EMPTY AS THE SUIT. Now it can be had for the highest bid. Good Luck bidding.

(!-- End Description -->

Be the peace you seek

Never so act, in any manner, in any inclination, that there may ever be an experience of regret within self. Let the moves and the discourteousness, the unkindness, all come from the other. Better to be abased . . . and have the peace within!
. . . act ever in the way ye would like to be acted toward. No matter what others say or even do, do as ye would be done by; and then the peace that has been promised is indeed thine own.

Edgar Cayce Reading 1183-3

deckview

This is the view from the house where I worked a little this past week..Lake Sammamish Wa.
All rights reserved 2005 pic by muddnet

Presidents Bush tour the Relief zone
no rights reserved 2005 not made by muddnet

Energy Fields

The universe is an infinite agglomeration of energy fields, resembling threads of light.

These energy fields, called the Eagle's, or the Indescribable Force 's emanations, radiate from a source of inconceivable proportions metaphorically called the Eagle--the Indescribable Force .

Human beings are also composed of an incalculable number of the same threadlike energy fields. These Indescribable Force 's emanations form an encased agglomeration that manifests itself as a ball of light the size of the person's body with the arms extended laterally, like a giant luminous egg.

Only a very small group of the energy fields inside this luminous ball are lit up by a point of intense brilliance located on the ball's surface.

Perception occurs when the energy fields in that small group immediately surrounding the point of brilliance extent their light to illuminate identical energy fields outside the ball. Since the only energy fields perceivable are those lit by the point of brilliance, that point is named "the point where perception is assembled" or simply "the assemblage point."

The assemblage point can be moved from its usual position on the surface of the luminous ball to another position on the surface, or into the interior. Since the brilliance of the assemblage point can light up whatever energy field it comes in contact with, when it moves to a new position it immediately brightens up new energy fields, making them perceivable. This perception is known as seeing .

When the assemblage point shifts, it makes possible the perception of an entirely different world--as objective and factual as the one we normally perceive. Sorcerers go into that other world to get energy, power, solutions to general and particular problems, or to face the unimaginable.

Intent is the pervasive force that causes us to perceive. We do not become aware because we perceive; rather, we perceive as a result of the pressure and intrusion of intent .

The aim of sorcerers is to reach a state of total awareness in order to experience all the possibilities of perception available to man. This state of awareness even implies an alternative way of dying.
Carlos Castaneda

Blog Anniversary

Has it been a whole year?Hard to imagine,but yes Virginia,there is a blogsanta!I didnt think I would still be blogging after a year of trying to find santuary online.I mean,some people uncovered real vital stuff in the last year of blogging.Ask Dan Rather if he blogs yet?lol..maybe its time he starts..My Dad demanded to know "what the hell is a blog?" When I explained it was simply a web page you add to frequently,he replied " o , ok...He almost has it down the difference between a program and a web site.He actually does very well for a man in his 70's.He said to me recently " I think the web is great for keeping my mind sharp".Atta boy..keep exercizing that muscle till your 99 years old!Dont ever quit..

She's back,better than ever!
All rights reserved 2005 made by muddnet with Tierazon1

He will Comfort the Brokenhearted

And as He hath given, "If ye love me, keep my commandments; for they are not grievous to bear. For I will bear them with thee, I will wipe away thy tears; I will comfort the brokenhearted, I will bring all to those in the ways that are in the Wisdom of God for thy expressions through each experience, in each activity of thine."
For thy soul in its Wisdom seeketh expression with Him. Smother it not in the doubts and the fears of materiality but in the spirit of love and truth that encompasseth all, and that is open to ye who have set thy hearts, thy faces, toward the love that is in Jesus, thy Friend, thy Brother.

Edgar Cayce Reading 262-105

Take councel in Self

Take counsel in self. Give unto self that worthy, acceptable period of service, for in service to others is lending to that Creative Energy that makes or destroys lives. Lives are as worlds, for each is of that material of which the universe is and was created--for in the life of the entity enters many of those conditions that may be made into miracles or crimes.

Edgar Cayce Reading 2497-3

This looks like one of the cars I crashed into

downtown Seattle
All rights reserved 2005

Listen to the Divine Within

Think on This ...
Depend more upon the intuitive forces from within and not harken so much to that of outside influences--but learn to listen to that still small voice from within, remembering as the lesson as was given, not in the storm, the lightning, nor in any of the loud noises as are made to attract man, but rather in the still small voice from within does the impelling influence come to life in an individual that gives for that which must be the basis of human endeavor; for without the ability to constantly hold before self the ideal as is attempted to be accomplished, man becomes one as adrift, pulled hither and yon by the various calls and cries of those who would give of this world's pleasure in fame, fortune, or what not. Let these be the outcome of a life spent in listening to the divine from within, and not the purpose of the life.

Time and Space

. . in the consciousness of eternity, time is not, neither is space. In man's consciousness there appears so much mercy, so much love, that these have been called time and space.

Edgar Cayce Reading 3660-1

Shi-ne

According to the Buddhist masters, we are not necessarily stuck with our neurotic anxieties. We can develop what Trungpa Rinpoche called 'Basic Sanity,' which is simply the ability to synchronize what our mind is doing with what our body is doing.

The most basic way to train oneself to be more aware of what is actually going on in any situation, including various aspects of ones health, is a certain type of meditation practice, called shi-né (she nay) in Tibetan (Sanskrit shamatha). This term has been translated into English as "mindfulness practice"; however, a more literal translation of the Tibetan term would be "abiding in peace of mind."

Shi-né is the most common form of meditation, not only in Tibet but in other Buddhist countries. It is the basis of Zen, of Theravadin or Insight meditation, and of the Tibetan meditation practices involving visualization. It is also the basic practice of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction approach developed to help patients deal with illness.

http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/meditation.htm

Accept Your Fate

A warrior knows that he is waiting and knows also what he is waiting for, and while he waits he feasts his eyes on the world. The ultimate accomplishment of a warrior is joy.

Accept your fate in humbleness. The course of a warrior's destiny is unalterable. The challenge is how far he can go within those rigid bounds, how impeccable he can be within those rigid bounds. If there are obstacles in his path, the warrior strives impeccably to overcome them. If he finds unbearable hardship and pain on his path, he weeps, but all his tears put together could not move the line of his destiny the breadth of one hair. Fulfill your fate as a warrior not as a petty person.
Carlos Castenada

The Path out of Suffering

Love, that is a sublime nobility of heart and intellect which knows, understands and is ready to help.

Love, that is strength and gives strength: this is the highest love.

Love, which by the Enlightened One was named "the liberation of the heart", "the most sublime beauty": this is the highest love.
And what is the highest manifestation of love? To show to the world the path leading to the end of suffering, the path pointed out, trodden, and realized to perfection by Him, the Exalted One, the Buddha.
http://www.buddhanet.net/ss03.htm

Stopping the World

In order to arrive at seeing one first has to stop the world . Stopping the world is indeed an appropriate rendition of certain states of awareness in which the reality of everyday life is altered because the flow of interpretation, which ordinarily runs uninterruptedly, has been stopped by a set of circumstances alien to that flow. In this case the set of circumstances alien to our normal flow of interpretations is the sorcery description of the world. The precondition for stopping the world is that one has to be convinced; in other words, one has to learn the new description in a total sense, for the purpose of pitting it against the old one, and in that way break the dogmatic certainty, which we all share, that the validity of our perceptions, or our reality of the world, is not to be questioned.

Don Juan

What are your Sandcastles

Some children made sandcastles,
keeping theirs separate from others'.
When the castles were completed,
one kicked over another's.
The owner flew into a rage and hit him,
yelling, "Come and help punish him!"

Others came to his help,
beating the child...
Then they carried on playing their sandcastles,
each saying, "This is mine!"

Evening came,
and the children thought they ought to go home.
No one now cared of his castle.
One stepped on his, and another pushed his over.
Then they turned away and went back, each to his home.

-Adapted from Yogacara Bhumi Sutra

What are your sandcastles?
from www.buddhanet.com

antalien
All rights reserved 2005 made by muddnet with Tierazon1

other realitys

Our world is only one in a cluster of consecutive worlds, arranged like the layers of an onion. Even though we have been energetically conditioned to perceive solely our world, we still have the capability of entering into those other realms, which are as real, unique, absolute, and engulfing as our own world is.
For us to perceive those other realms, not only do we have to covet them but we need to have sufficient energy to seize them. Their existence is constant and independent of our awareness, but their inaccessibility is entirely a consequence of our energetic conditioning. In other words, simply and solely because of that conditioning, we are compelled to assume that the world of daily life is the one and only possible world.
Believing that our energetic conditioning is correctable, sorcerers of ancient times developed a set of practices designed to recondition our energetic capabilities to perceive. They called this set of practices the art of dreaming . It's the gateway to infinity.
Through dreaming we can perceive other worlds, which we can certainly describe, but we can't describe what makes us perceive them. Yet we can feel how dreaming opens up those other realms. Dreaming seems to be a sensation--a process in our bodies, an awareness in our minds.
Dreaming instruction is divided into two parts. One is about dreaming procedures, the other about the purely abstract explanations of these procedures: an interplay between enticing one's intellectual curiosity with the abstract principles of dreaming and guiding one to seek an outlet in its practices.
Carlos Castaneda

life isnt pointless

What is the point of life
if there is the point of death?

It is death that makes life not pointless.
It is death that makes us reflect,
that brings meaning.
It is the wake-up call -
not to kill yourself,
because you will only return in rebirth,
but to ask, "What do you want to do with your life?"

Death is the great mirror,
in which all of your life reflects in.
What do you see in it?

Failing to improve oneself

(Q) If a soul fails to improve itself, what becomes of it?
(A) That's why the reincarnation, why it reincarnates; that it may have the opportunity. Can the will of man continue to defy its Maker?

Edgar Cayce Reading 826-8

Prayer Wheels

There are earth, water, fire and wind prayer wheels. One of the benefits of the prayer wheel is that it embodies all the actions of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the 10 directions. To benefit sentient beings, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas manifest in the prayer wheel to purify all our negative karmas and obscurations, and to cause us to actualize the realizations of the path to enlightenment. All the beings (not only the people but also the insects), in the area where the prayer wheel is built are saved from rebirth in the lower realms; they receive a deva or human body, or are born in a pure land of Buddha. If you have a mani prayer wheel in your house, your house is the same as the Potala, the pure land of the Compassion Buddha. If you have a prayer wheel next to you when you die, you don't need powa. Having the prayer wheel itself becomes a method to transfer your consciousness to a pure land. Simply thinking of a prayer wheel helps a dying person to shoot the consciousness up the central channel and out through the crown to reincarnate in the pure land of Amithaba or the Compassion Buddha.
http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/benefits-of-prayer-wheels.html

Fractal Buddha

The Moth God
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Remember the soft words

Remember, the soft word turns away wrath and it brings joy, the kind word as ye have found in thine own experience oft has made the day much brighter for thee. Make many days brighter for others and in making them more and more in attune with love, patience, longsuffering, gentleness and kindness, ye will make for thyself a surety in those things that take hold on peace, harmony and joy. These should be a part of thine experience ever.

Edgar Cayce Reading 5098-1

Dont Put off

But do not put off today that which will bring hope and help to the mind of another . . . Those things that make for the putting off become a joy never fulfilled. Use, then, the experiences from day to day as the basis, and these will grow under thine very effort; surprising even to self as to the joy that comes from same, and gradually taking shape to become a joy to self and blessings to others.

Read the Words

The Star Spangled Banner
from the June 14, 2005 eNews issue

During the night of September 13, 1814, the British fleet bombarded Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor. Francis Scott Key, a 34-year old lawyer, watched the attack from the deck of a British prisoner-exchange ship. For nearly 25 hours the British fleet fired their cannons at the American defenses. The morning following the battle Key turned his telescope to the fort and saw that the American flag was still waving. The flag above Fort McHenry was massive in size. Each individual stripe measured two feet in width. The impressive sight inspired Key to write the poem that later became our national anthem.

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight'
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen, thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream;
'Tis the star-spangled banner: oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand,
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that has made and preserved us as a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust";
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Written by Francis Scott Key on September 14th, 1814. Sung to the tune of Anacreon in Heaven.

Is This a Black Hole?

gas jets
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Naa it's a black yellow and pink whole!

News
October 30, 2000





The Current Mass Extinction


The phrase mass extinction usually brings to mind events sparked by dramatic environmental change, such as the asteroid impact that led to the demise of the dinosaurs and many other species 65 million years ago. In fact, five such large-scale extinctions have been identified in the fossil record, and according to findings presented on Friday at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Mexico City, another is under way. This time the cause is nothing so dramatic as a giant asteroid or a radical shift in climate. Rather, it appears, human pressure is to blame.

Like the other mass extinctions, says University of Michigan paleontologist Catherine Badgely, the current crisis is worldwide, affecting a broad range of species. Certain species of vertebrates (animals with backbones) are particularly vulnerable, she reports, especially those with small geographic ranges or narrow subsistence requirements. The numbers are alarming. One quarter of all mammals are endangered or extinct, as are 15 percent of birds. In both groups the larger species are in the most trouble.






The human pressures threatening these creatures include habitat destruction and modification, overhunting, introduction of foreign species, and the increase in carbon dioxide concentrations. Still, extinction of the animals currently designated as endangered is not inevitable, Badgely says. But in order to preserve them, there needs to be a massive change in human actions. --Kate Wong

doggietotem pole
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Follow your Dreams

"Do you have a dream? Have you taken your dream into your 5th dimensional workshop, shaped it into a thoughtform (a shimmering bubble of Creator energy) with your mind and charged it with your enthusiasm? Once you have created a strong thoughtform that represents your dream, place your attention in your solar heart center and listen for guidance to take appropriate action to manifest your dream. Focus on following your dream with your heart not your head. When you are focused in your head (thinking), anxiety and worry predominate and your guides and angels cannot communicate with you through the mental static. When you focus on the still point within your solar heart center (the feeling and Being center of your soul) with your mind at rest, your guides can communicate with you. It is through your heart that your inner guidance gently nudges you towards the full expression of your life purpose and planetary service."

It is Time

Millions upon millions of dear souls are awakening as that inner time clock begins to vibrate frequencies of awakening. It is saying, “IT IS TIME. ARE YOU READY?” It is time for you, the children, the Sparks of Light, the SUNS/sons and daughters of our Father/Mother God, to awaken. It is time to return to your true estate as beloved emissaries of Light of the highest order. It is time to remember, you are already connected to and have access to anything you could ever desire. What are you waiting for?
http://www.ronnastar.com/latest.html

Three Dimentional Consciousness

Know in self, first this: Thou art body, mind and soul, a three-dimensional individual in a three-dimensional consciousness. Hence ye find the Godhead, to a consciousness of an individual in the earth plane, is three dimensions: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each are individual, and yet they are one. So with the body-consciousness: the body, the mind and the soul. Each have their attributes, each have their limitations, save the soul. Nothing may separate the soul from its source save the will of self.

Edgar Cayce Reading 5089-3

Remember the Sunset

Then, to be able to remember the sunset, to be able to remember a beautiful conversation, a beautiful deed done where hope and faith were created, to remember the smile of a babe, the blush of a rose, the harmony of a song--a bird's call; these are creative. For if they are a part of thyself, they bring you closer and closer to God.

Edgar Cayce Reading 1431-1

Stress

STRESS – THE CAUSE
Physical, emotional, mental and spiritual stress create a disturbance in the flow of electro-magnetic energy in the body, resulting in abnormal cellular frequencies. These underlying weaknesses, imbalances and blockages in the 4 body system can develop into physical symptoms and disease. Some symptoms related to abnormal cellular frequencies are: fatigue, headaches, dizziness, insomnia, poor memory, anxiety, depression, allergies, skin problems, respiratory problems, recurring infections, muscle aches and cramping, backaches, painful inflamed joints, poor digestion, gas, bloating, constipation or diarrhea, menstrual irregularities, prostate problems, cravings and addictions. Modern medicine generally treats the symptoms, not the underlying cause.

Its the keisterbunny
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The God Within

Yet as we look into the infinity of space and time we realize there is then that force, that influence also that is aware of the needs, and there is also that will, that choice given to the souls of men that they may be used, that they may be one, that they may apply same in their own feeble, weak ways perhaps; yet that comes to mean, comes to signify, comes to manifest in the lives of those that have lost their way, that very influence ye seek in the knowledge of God.
For until ye become as a savior, as a help to some soul that has lost hope, lost its way, ye do not fully comprehend the God within, the God without.

Edgar Cayce Reading 1158-14

Sing it Homer

[From The Simpsons, Ep. EABF12 - April 13, 2003
to the tune of Life Goes On (Jack and Diane) by John `Cougar Melloncamp]

Little ditty 'bout Homer and Marge
Her heart was as big as his stomach was large

Oh yeah, they say love goes on
Long after the grilled cheese sandwich is gone

(During credits)
That's the story 'bout Homer and Marge
Two folks I helped out for a nominal charge

After Homer went gay, they patched up their schism
But the dude never dealt with his alcoholism

Weird Al sayin'... oh yeah, the credits go on
Long after the viewer's interest is gone

Oh yeah, Weird Al had fun on this show
Even if it was just a brief cameo

Click to inlarge

fractal t v
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Cleanse the Mind

For how does one cleanse the mind? By the pouring out, the forgetting, the laying aside of those things that easily beset and filling same with pure, fresh water that is of the eternal life, that is of the eternal goodness as may be found in Him who is the light, the way, the truth, the vine, the bread of life and the water of life. These things are those influences that purify.

Edgar Cayce Reading 1620-1

Its spring and my flowers are blooming
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Forgiveness

Who gains by being forgiven and by forgiving? The one that forgives is lord even of him that he forgives.

Edgar Cayce Reading 585-2

I Dont Feel Tardy

My first wedding
All rights reserved 2005 Photo by my dad

Do you remember when there was only black and white phototography?And when T V first came out it was black and white only.I still have the first color tv that I ever owned,bought in 1981.A 10 inch ac dc color portable that still works to this day. I still use it as a monitor.I remember when dad got his first color tv in the 60's and we all watched the honeymooners in color for the first time.God Im old!

Norah

http://www.norahjones.com/video/sweet-wmv-hi.htm

breast cancer

Like most elementary schools, it was typical to have a parade of students in and out of the health clinic throughout the day. We dispensed ice for bumps and bruises, Band-Aids for cuts and liberal doses of sympathy and hugs. As principal, my office was right next door to the clinic, so I often dropped in to lend a hand and help out with the hugs. I knew that for some kids, mine might be the only one they got all day.

One morning I was putting a Band-Aid on a little girl's scrapped knee. Her blonde hair was matted, and I noticed that she was shivering in her thin little sleeveless blouse. I found her a warm sweatshirt and helped her pull it on. "Thanks for taking care of me," she whispered as she climbed into my lap and snuggled up against me.

It wasn't long after that when I ran across an unfamiliar lump under my arm. Cancer, an aggressively spreading kind, had already invaded thirteen of my lymph nodes. I pondered whether or not to tell the students about my diagnosis. The word breast seemed so hard to say out loud to them, and the word cancer seemed so frightening.


When it became evident that the children were going to find out one way or another, either the straight scoop from me or possibly a garbled version from someone else, I decided to tell them myself. It wasn't easy to get the words out, but the empathy and concern I saw in their faces as I explained it to them told me I had made the right decision. When I gave them a chance to ask questions, they mostly wanted to know how they could help. I told them that what I would like best would be their letters, pictures and prayers.

I stood by the gym door as the children solemnly filed out. My little friend darted out of line and threw herself into my arms. Then she stepped back to look up into my face. "Don't be afraid, Dr. Perry," she said earnestly, "I know you'll be back because now it's our turn to take care of you."

No one could have ever done a better job. The kids sent me off to my first chemotherapy session with a hilarious book of nausea remedies that they had written. A video of every class in the school singing get-well songs accompanied me to the next chemotherapy appointment. By the third visit, the nurses were waiting at the door to find out what I would bring next. It was a delicate music box that played "I Will Always Love You."

Even when I went into isolation at the hospital for a bone marrow transplant, the letters and pictures kept coming until they covered every wall of my room.

Then the kids traced their hands onto colored paper, cut them out and glued them together to make a freestanding rainbow of helping hands.. "I feel like I've stepped into Disneyland every time I walk into this room," my doctor laughed. That was even before the six-foot apple blossom tree arrived adorned with messages written on paper apples from the students and teachers. What healing comfort I found in being surrounded by these tokens of their caring.

At long last I was well enough to return to work. As I headed up the road to the school, I was suddenly overcome by doubts. What if the kids have forgotten all about me? I wondered, What if they don't want a skinny bald principal? What if... I caught sight of the school marquee as I rounded the bend. "Welcome Back, Dr. Perry," it read. As I drew closer, everywhere I looked were pink ribbons - ribbons in the windows, tied on the doorknobs, even up in the trees. The children and staff wore pink ribbons, too.

My blonde buddy was first in line to greet me. "You're back, Dr. Perry, you're back!" she called. "See, I told you we'd take care of you!"

As I hugged her tight, in the back of my mind I faintly heard my music box playing . . . "I will always love you."



Breast Cancer Stamp Booklet

We need those of you who are great at forwarding on information with your e-mail network. Please read and pass this on. It would be wonderful if 2005 were the year a cure for breast cancer was found!!!!

This is one email you should be glad to pass on. The notion that we could raise $35 million by buying a book of stamps is powerful! As you may be aware, the US Postal Service recently released its new "Fund the Cure" stamp to help fund breast cancer research. The stamp was designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland. It is important that we take a stand against this disease that affects so many of our Mothers, Sisters and Friends.

Instead of the normal 37 cents for a stamp, this one costs 45 cents. The additional 8 cents will go to breast cancer research. A "normal" book costs $7.40. This one is only $9.00. It takes a few minutes in line at the Post Office and means so much. If all stamps are sold, it will raise an additional $35,000,000 for this vital research. Just as important as the money is our support. What a statement it would make if the stamp outsold the this week. What a statement it would make that we care.

I urge you to do two things TODAY:

1. Go out and purchase some of these stamps

2. E-mail your friends to do the same.


Many of us know women and their families whose lives are turned upside-down by breast cancer.

It takes so little to do so much in this drive.

Please help & pass it on.

the virgin fractal
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What is Time?

What is time? Is time travel possible? For centuries, these questions have intrigued mystics, philosophers, and scientists. Much of ancient Greek philosophy was concerned with understanding the concept of eternity, and the subject of time is central to all the world's religions and cultures. Can the flow of time be stopped? Certainly some mystics thought so. Angelus Silesius, a sixth-century philosopher and poet, thought the flow of time could be suspended by mental powers:

Time is of your own making;
its clock ticks in your head.
The moment you stop thought
time too stops dead.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/time/through.html

colorfull aint it?
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Born to live in Joy

We were born to live in joy. We were not born to suffer. We sometimes choose this ourselves on a soul level, but it is not the intention of the Creator that we should suffer. This earth is the schoolroom of life, but we can live and learn in joy.

Our lives follow cyclic changes and mood frames, brought on by our birth times and the influence of the positioning of the stars and planets at certain periods in our lives. Astrology is a very real science, unlike the garb that the newspapers and magazines generalise in giving out. The actual position of the planets at the time of our birth, do have an influence on our lives. They help to shape our character. There are many millions of people, for example, born under the sign of Gemini or Pieces, but each one is different because there are a multitude of other influences affecting them. A genuine astrologer can help you discover certain influences that affect you, but they need not be taken as gospel. We can utilise these influences to our advantage, and be guided by them, but we need not let them override our free will choice in our lives. There is an abundance of joy in the Universe. We have to look for the joy. We have to look for the happiness and potential that exists around us in our everyday lives.

Words and the flow of truth

Words, according to Ramana Maharshi, act as a resistance to the flow of truth, as a light fixture in an electrical circuit acts as a resistor. The glowing light may alert us to the presence of its mysterious source, but it takes an actual contact with the current to shock us into true awareness. And awareness of It, these teachers tell us, reveals our true nature and being.

Give Me More Sunsets

Another Day has set!
All rights reserved 2005 pic by muddnet

The Meaning of Work

The Meaning of Work

Dear Son,
The life and work of an ordinary man are destroyed by tension, unacceptability, forgetfulness, commotions, dim knowledge and barriers, which arise from problems and time and cause mistakes. The causes of these mistakes come unaware. These make me worry a great deal about you. I am afraid that in your life and work you will face endless mistakes. If you want to prevent mistakes from occurring or occur at least ,you must understand that work is the road to deep happiness of life. Work gives people opportunities to best develop the potentials of their bodies and mind. Work increases opportunities to learn more about one's life and soul. Besides, work is a process to enrich strength, bravery and tolerance. If you work sincerely, work will give you love, kindness and generosity for your companions in birth, sickness and death, as well as cooperation for living together. Work will enable you to see correctly the stark truth of religion, because you have touched it by yourself. The teaching that we should know suffering, means to get rid of suffering, practices which lead to the extinction of suffering. If you understand these meanings of work, you will know that life is work. Life and work are unanimous.

OK,WHO ATE THE FROG?
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What do you expect

The more enlightened we are about our future and what to expect, the more we will be able to be in harmony as these things happen. We are children of the one Creator and as such we have opportunities to witness one of the greatest changes this planet has seen. Remember we are eternal. Nothing can harm us. If we do leave our physical bodies we only make the transition, we do not die. Love is eternal. Only love can be taken with us. We can never lose that which we never had in the first place. We are literally "embodiments of love". If we become enlightened through understanding and compassion, before we make this transition, we have served our life's purpose. We will have begun to see the changes which will herald our new world!

Obedience to the nature of things

At moments when outer and inner circumstances lend themselves to it we reflect upon the understanding of our spontaneous liberation, we think with force, and in the most concrete manner possible, of the unlimited prodigy which is in process of elaboration for us and which will some day resolve all our fears, all our covetousness. In such moments we seed and re-seed the field of our faith; we awaken little by little in ourselves this faith which was sleeping, and the hope and the love which accompany it. Then we turn back to living as usual. Because we have thought correctly for a moment a portion of our attention remains attached to this plane of thought, although this plane penetrates the depths of our being and is lost to sight.... In the measure in which this second subterranean attention develops we will perceive a less compelling interest in the world of phenomena; our fears and our covetousness will lose their keenness. We will be able to learn how to be discreet, non-active, towards our inner world and we will thus become able to realize this counsel of Zen: 'Let go, leave things as they may be...' Be obedient to the nature of things and you are in accord with the Way.

From Chapter 13, Obedience to the Nature of Things, in The Supreme Doctrine: Psychological Studies in ZEN Thought, by Hubert Benoit

quads
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Love is warm

DLW 2. What the life of man is, no one knows unless he knows that it is love. If this is not known, one person may believe that man's life is nothing but perceiving with the senses and acting, and another that it is merely thinking; and yet thought is the first effect of life, and sensation and action are the second effect of life. Thought is here said to be the first effect of life, yet there is thought which is interior and more interior, also exterior and more exterior. What is actually the first effect of life is inmost thought, which is the perception of ends. But of all this hereafter, when the degrees of life are considered.

DLW 3. Some idea of love, as being the life of man, may be had from the sun's heat in the world. This heat is well known to be the common life, as it were, of all the vegetations of the earth. For by virtue of heat, coming forth in springtime, plants of every kind rise from the ground, deck themselves with leaves, then with blossoms, and finally with fruits, and thus, in a sense, live. But when, in the time of autumn and winter, heat withdraws, the plants are stripped of these signs of their life, and they wither. So it is with love in man; for heat and love mutually correspond. Therefore love also is warm.
Author: E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

I love this tree

Beauty is everywhere
All rights reserved 2005 pic by muddnet
Here stands an old warrior,besiged by time,yet everstanding tall.He was here when none of us were,and probably will be here long after we have gone.Have you ever touched a tree and talked to it like it was alive?They are our friends,and everything made from them is alive also.Native peoples knew this,we have just forgotten.

red clovers
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Who I am

"Who I Am"

I am not my hair, my eyes, my nose or my mouth.
I am not my skin or the shape of any of my body parts.
I am not the IQ of my brain.

I am not the sound of my voice or the volume of my laughter.
I am not my strengths or any of my weaknesses.
I am not the level of my skills.

The temple of my physical makeup is a culmination of genetics.
It reveals nothing about the person who resides within.
I take no credit or point no blame for the way I look.
My temple is perfect, as is.

This body is not who I am.
It is an exquisitely perfect dwelling for my soul.
Everything about it is exactly as it should be.
No other, anywhere, ever, could serve my soul as well.

I am not anything you can see with your eyes
or touch with your hands. Should you judge me
by that criteria, you will never know me.

I am not a dumping ground for bias that's based
on a man-made standard, and I do not accept the
prejudice it creates.

I am a union of body, mind and spirit, a trio, not a solo.

To know me, is to know yourself.

Those who hear the voice of their soul, recognize the song
in mine. They do not stop at the front door and judge me
by the dwelling in which I reside. With a humble sense of
honor, they knock upon the door and ask to come in.

The judgment of others does not change who I am.
Quite the opposite is true. It reveals who they are.

Those who deem me unworthy at a glance and pass me on by,
have my blessing to keep walking, for they have a long way to
go. They have not reached the point in their journey where
they are able to see and appreciate me for who I am.

I will accept no less.